Chapter 26

Antonio walked over to Buffy and handed her the coffee that Olinski and brought had just brought from the cafeteria. She absently took it and set it next to her.

"Hey," he said softly.

She knew the tone. It was the one he used when he wanted to tell her something important and didn't want Julian to hear. She glanced up at him.

"Marco's a tough guy. He'll make it," he said.

"I hope so, Antonio. I don't' know what I'd do if I lost him."

Antonio knew Buffy and Marco were close, but he sensed he didn't know the whole story of them. Marco was constantly at Buffy's house, and she was always feeding him. He did a lot with Julian, and he assumed that was because he was Julian's Godfather. He also babysat when he and Buffy went out on dates. He sat down on the chair's arm and started to rub her back.

"You're not going to find out. Not today anyway."

Voight surveyed the room. He had to get the team out of the street.

"Burgess, Roman, Halstead, Ruzek, Olinski, Lindsey- hit the streets. Find this son of a bitch who shot Marco."

Antonio started to stand up, but Voight waved him down. "Your wife needs you," he said as he opened his coffee.

Antonio nodded. He finished his coffee and picked up Buffy's untouched cup. He opened it and took a sip. She looked up at him. He shrugged and started to rub her back again.

"Someone needs to pick up Julian," she reminded.

"On it," he said as he slid off the chair arm.

He walked over to Voight. They exchanged words. Voight walked away and called someone on his cell. Antonio walked back to Buffy. "He'll be here in about 20 minutes."

Buffy nodded and looked over at her Mother. Carmen sat quietly in a chair, her rosary beads in her hand. Buffy wondered how many rosaries she had said throughout her lifetime to keep all of her family safe. The prayers had obviously worked until today. Her Dad had never gotten shot while he was on the job. Marco was 19 years in before he got his bullet, and she was 9 months into her job at the CFD. So far, she hadn't faced anything she couldn't get out of without help from her coworkers. She reached over and gave her Mother a hug. Carmen stopped praying long enough to pat her hand.

"Head's up," Voight said an hour later when he noticed Alec Wilhite walking toward them.

"Hank," Alec greeted as he offered a hand to his late wife's boss. Voight shook it.

"Alec," he acknowledged as he walked over to Carmen and Jose. "These are Sergeant Hernandez's parents, Carmen and Jose. And his sister, Buffy."

"Grace Margaret," Carmen corrected. "I named her Grace Margaret, not Buffy."

"Ma, hush," Buffy said in exasperation. "Let the doctor talk."

All eyes were on Alec as they waited to hear what he had to say.

"The good news is he's stable. We got the bullet out and I don't expect any permanent damage. The bad news is, he lost a lot of blood. We're transfusing him now. You can see him in about 10 minutes."

"Thank you, Alec," Voight said.

"Ma, you and Dad go in first," Buffy told her Mother.

"What about you and Julian? Julian will want to see him," Carmen protested.

"We'll go in after you and Dad are done."

Carmen nodded, grateful that her youngest two got along so well. She rose from her chair and took Jose's hand as they started down the hall.